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User: danfromsb

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  1. Re:Meh on Windows 8.1 Rolls Out Today · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm not a super big fan of Apple's policies, but honestly, how does this shit get modded insightful? Don't like thunderbolt, use USB, those cables cost $2. Don't like the apps in the Appstore? Then install from the developer's website. Like hacking? Then install homebrew and have at it. I mean seriously, vim comes standard on OS X, and you can easily install clang or gcc to build whatever you want. XCode is free!!!! You need to pay absolutely nothing, beyond the cost of hardware, to build and distribute software for OS X.

  2. Re:Fanboy attack on Alan Kay Says iPad Betrays Xerox PARC Vision · · Score: 1

    It is fine for Apple to charge to put it on the store, but it should not cost you money to load your own app on your own tablet.

  3. Re:A strange game.... on North Korea Announces 3rd Nuclear Test, Anti-US Aims · · Score: 1

    Also, look what happened with Gaddafi. He voluntarily suspended his pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for aid, then was promptly removed. Would he have been removed so quickly if Libya was a viable nuclear power? What kind of lesson does this send Iran and NK?

  4. Re:It's the packages stupid! on Julia Language Seeks To Be the C For Numerical Computing · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Absolutely right. It is important to recognize that both Matlab and R are much more than just languages. I would also throw Mathematica into the mix too, while it is a bit slower than Matlab, its numerical capabilities have continued to grow and it incorporates a fine statistics package alongside a quality plotting and graphics package (not to mention its symbolic roots and recent introduction of dynamic gui manipulation).

    For julia to be successful it needs robust integration with quality addon packages, starting with graphics and plotting. It also needs good documentation. One thing that annoys me to no end with Python (and numpy, scipy, pylab, matplotlib) is that you have to look at 3 or 4 different websites to look up API and examples. In my mind Mathematica does this right: a single documentation library which incorporates API reference, tutorials, and common functions grouped together. At the bottom of every page it lists related functions and tutorials so it is easy to discover new API calls in the language.

  5. Re:Autodesk on Crowdsourced List of SOPA Supporters · · Score: 1

    Almost all Autodesk Software is free for students, staff, and faculty. This includes the big guns like AutoCad, Inventor, Maya, etc. This cannot be said for nearly any other company. Also, they do have reasonably priced "hobby" versions of some of their software. Autodesk 123D is a surprisingly useful tool to model in 3D and is free.

  6. Re:What about the lack of inflation? on Ask Amir Taaki About Bitcoin · · Score: 1

    Deflation is a bad thing because it is a disincentive for people to invest their capital. The investment of capital is what will create wealth in the future by founding new businesses and technology.

    Also, nearly all GDP numbers account for inflation.

  7. Is it their data? on GPS Maker TomTom Submits Your Speed Data To Police · · Score: 1

    Do the companies own this data? If I buy a computer, create data on it, does the device manufacturer own that data? How could it be legal for a company to transmit data from a device no longer under their ownership?

  8. Re:Ban guns on Congresswoman and Staff Gunned Down · · Score: 1

    Those five states also happen to be the top 5 states by population. Perhaps it would be more prudent to look into violent crime statistics per capita....

  9. Re:It has always been true on PayPal Withdraws WikiLeaks Donation Service · · Score: 2

    Freedom of publication. But can you afford to pay for the press, the ink, the distribution?

    Freedom of broadcasting. But can you afford the license fee for the frequency, the cost of powering the transmitter?

    Freedom to gather. But can you afford to take a day of work, the travel expenses? Can you get a meeting place?

    This is not a case of wikileaks not being able to afford services, this is a case of wikileaks being denied services from private companies due to political pressure on those companies.

  10. Re:let me clear your mind. on UK Asks News Outlets Not To Publish WikiLeaks Bombshell, US Prepares For Fallout · · Score: 1

    The issue we have now is that we cannot trust the government to properly classify reports and cables. Many things are left unlawfully classified in order to cover up embarrassing events. In general I agree that there are instances when sensitive information needs to remain secret, but it is clear in my mind that our government has not applied the necessary level of discretion in their classifications to warrant unquestioned trust. Wikileaks provides that questioning, which one would hope would guide the government's actions in the future.

    Long story short: People act to a higher ethical standard when being watched.

  11. Re:Huh? on Will Amazon Put Advertisements In eBooks? · · Score: 1

    Not only that, but the average inflation adjusted price of a paperback has gone up significantly as well. Books in general are too expensive, and ebooks are even worse.

  12. Re:Amazing on BP Says "Top Kill" Operation Has Failed · · Score: 1

    If people willingly buy from a seller that they know is intentionally subverting safety restrictions in order to buy apples at a lower price, then yes, those people do hold a portion of the blame. Sellers respond to consumer demand, so consumers do have an obligation to demand safety. In fact in situations where the sellar is a corporation, consumers are often the only potential source of any ethical behavior.

  13. Re:Good luck in university on Schooling, Homeschooling, and Now, "Unschooling" · · Score: 1

    And woefully underprepared to deal with the social interactions required to advance through society. I would expect many of the parents of unschooled and home schooled kids to not want their children to 'advance' through society, but it is unfair to them to not allow them the opportunity of learning these skills (and other skills the parents are not strong in). A very interesting documentary, SURFWISE, investigates Doc Pascowitz and his form of unschooling. The perspectives from the children are especially illuminating and detail the benefits and pitfalls of this kind of education.

    Of course this all comes down to the quality of parents. If you have involved, knowledgeable, curious, parents unschooling may be advantageous, but if the parents are ignorant we as a society are going to have huge problems down the line. The single biggest advantage schools offer is multiple perspectives. As my significant other says "I would hope my children would have access to more knowledge than I am able to provide."

    I also expect that many of the "I am smart and I was was bored in school and don't use any of it now, so school is obsolete" commenters do not fully appreciate the impact school may have had on them. It seems difficult for me to think that they did not have at least one influential teacher in their past who had a unique view of the world, not to mention the smaller positive contributions from the many other teachers (liked or not) which are harder to evaluate. Surely, they can read and write, and I would expect schools to have at least some positive impact on those skills.

  14. How about if you use a library? on On the Economics of the Kindle · · Score: 1

    Figure maybe $1.50 a year in late fines....it is going to take a looooong time for it to pay for itself.

    If they started to offer books on loan for the kindle, for around $1 a week per book; then things start to get interesting. Of course this would significantly dent all of their profits so it won't happen.

  15. Re:Costs on Amazon Kindle Endorsed By Oprah · · Score: 1

    You forgot: Kindle Book - $10

  16. Re:How do the acid-test creators test the acid tes on Acid3 Test Released · · Score: 1

    Assuming that each of the tests are passed by at least one browser you would be able to check them individually. I don't know if they are dependent upon previous tests though, in which case this method would obviously not work.

  17. Re:Evolution is a theory too on Texas Creationist Museum Facing Extinction · · Score: 1

    I think what the parent poster was referring to is the general teaching among creationists that the world is only a few thousand years old. This concept certainly does go against many areas of science, most specifically the use of carbon 14 dating (as the parent pointed out) which is based on principals in physics and chemistry.

  18. Re:In other news... on Is Apple Killing Linux on the Desktop? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I'm not sure why this is rated as insightful. Certainly, many Linux distributions come packaged with useful software such as the Gimp, but Windows and Mac users can easily download a lot of these tools (Gimp, openoffice.org, abiword, blender . . .). Also, new Macs come packaged with iLife which feature easier to use (and in my opinion generally superior) tools than Linux distributions come with. The point is, Mac and Windows are a lot more than just their kernels too, and much of the stuff you claim "Linux" is can be easily downloaded for other operating systems.

  19. Re:isn't democracy great? on FCC Ignores Public, Relaxes Media Ownership · · Score: 1

    And to go along with your analogy, you would expect that person to be immediately fired once they were found incompetent. Clearly your analogy is really of no comparison to our political system.

  20. Re:The legal system making sense on RIAA College Litigations Getting A Bumpy Ride · · Score: 1

    I think the point of their PR campaign is to scare people into thinking that it is never safe to infringe copyright. You don't get a free pass if you are a single mom, you are not safe if you are a 12 year old kid, you won't even get off if you are dead. WE have the RIGHT to sue you, and we will.

  21. It IS in stores on How the iPod Touch Works · · Score: 1

    There are reports of the iPod touch being in stores already.

  22. Re:No surprise! on 1300 Unopened Fry's Rebate Forms Found In Dumpster · · Score: 1

    I think a primary reason why States don't have a huge interest in eliminating rebates is because you still pay tax on the before rebate price. That is a whole lot more money to bring in versus offering at register discounts.

  23. Re:pissed off customers, thats what it means on Amazon Invests In Dynamic Pricing Model For MP3s · · Score: 1

    I agree, at some point the price for a track will be exactly what the consumer is willing to pay for the convenience of not pirating it. Problem is, this won't be what the music companies want the consumer to pay.

  24. Re:Mandatory logging on Judge Orders TorrentSpy to Turn Over RAM · · Score: 1

    You bring up some very good points, especially the technical ones. The very purpose of RAM is to store information for a SHORT period of time. It is insane to record everything that is being swapped in and out of RAM.

  25. Re:Motives are clear on MLB Says Slingbox Illegal, CEA Thinks Otherwise · · Score: 1

    Actually it doesn't. If your billing zip code/ip address is in the specified locations you will be blacked out of local games even on mlb.tv. Only gameday radio allows you to listen to all games live. All of the rules mlb sets up don't make any sense in this day and age.